StormieTheDark I remember my band teacher did that in class to one of my friend's clarinets, holy crap did she freak out. The class smelled lime smoke for the rest of the class
Wow, this guy is master level sarcastic. I mean I had to watch for several minutes as the suspicion grew and grew until "The shoulder shrug" confirmed it. It might have taken me longer since I'm new to the instrument. I mean hey, you do get some phase and intonation effects as you move an instrument around and explore the stage, hehe.
Independent auditors said that my playing improved 126 and a half percent when using all these techniques simultaneously and when I get out of this hospital I just know I'm going to be a clarinet superstar! Thank you so much. I'm going to contribute $10 to your highly educational video program.
There is another technic you forgot to mention - that you must wear ear plugs because all the musicality is visual and you mustn't let the sounds interfere with the performance.
Is a second video coming? You left so much out that I need instruction on... Eyebrow raising - both together and singly. Opening eyes wider. Very important: closing eyes for an extended period. Moving ears. Head gliding forward and back. Moving head relative to clarinet. And even subtle head movements RELATIVE to the clarinet. Perhaps also mention importance of hair style and skin condition and how it changes the sound. Clothing is important too... colour and texture of the fabric. Even winkle-pickers for added projection.
Hahahaha!!!!!! Having played for almost 30 yrs now, the recognition factor is total! Thank you for making me laugh so hard I almost cried. Kindly, Annika - Swedish clarinetist.
I was hoping you would talk about the aggravated head twitch done when the music is being stubborn and you have to force the phrase out with aggression.
The sounds I made when watching this video were not human, I could not stop laughing!!!! It's also funny to see that I do a couple of these things (finger pull, sound sweeper, just to name a few). XD Loved this!!!
The end-of-piece flight is proportional to the weight of the instrument and the number of notes played, which is why bass saxophonists need such a strong harness, or preferably to have the instrument bolted to the stage, and why we usually only play bom - bom - bom - bom notes instead of all the twiddly diddly stuff. I played Flight of the Bumblebee once using a normal sax sling, and there was a hole in the ceiling afterwards. I really liked that instrument too.
This video made my morning and it will take a few hours for the smile to fade from my face and for my cheeks stop hurting. Thanks for touching upon these topics in a hilarious manner!! I'm going to share this with all of my students.
This is hilarious! I don't yet play the clarinet but I have found that my alto sax, like the clarinet, can sometimes want to start floating away, although as its heavier, doesn't usually get too far. I can stop it if this starts to happen, by bending notes and playing lower. As the notes bend and get lower, this creates some extra weight around the bottom of the inside of the bell and brings it back down. Another benefit over a clarinet I find is that the sax makes a good guard instrument against other unwanted woodwinds. It can get a bit loud and growl at them and this usually scares them off and shows who is boss.
There are two techniques used by saxophonists... the "leg thing" and the "foot stomp". The "leg thing" is where you bring up either knee about even with the bell of alto or tenor saxophone. You can do that with the toe pointed down (the more refined technique) or bottom of foot parallel to the floor. Related to the "leg thing", the "foot stomp" is similar but you only bring the foot up about 10"-12" off the floor. When a saxophonist does either the "leg thing" or the "foot stomp" it is done with one leg only, always on the same side. Guitarists do this sometimes, too. So far, I haven't seen any clarinetists do either of these techniques, but I'm sure you could combine this with the "shoulder shrug" or the "soup stir".
Hey Michael! I've been watching you for years, but missed this one, and can't wait to send this to my students. BTW, something I haven't seen anyone say yet: in addition to each one of these being hilarious, you sound fantastic in each example. Bravo!
I'm glad I watched this intently. You've saved me enough money on the ballet lessons that I thought I needed to learn these skills that I'll be able to afford that new professional bass clarinet! At one point, I even considered moving to Italy so I could find who taught Corrado Giuffredi these moves!!!!
Some people may think it's a joke, but it actually works really well when playing, especially if you're playing a really long note, or a series of very short notes. I don't know why, it's really counter intuitive, but it just works.
I noticed first with Pandit Mukesh Desai how he lifted and settled his arms when singing, sometimes drawing across as if with a bow. My fellow students were annoyed when I began copying the arm gestures . . . but the modulation of which part of the lung the air was coming from made a huge difference in being able to follow the modulations of dhrupad music scales and slides and variations. What great sharing we receive here with the clarinet! In the body flexing trunk or head pumps the right adrenal gland (it has a horizontal membrane in the middle); while rotating the neck or trunk pumps the left adrenal gland (it has a vertical membrane in the middle). The gestures of both 'yes' and 'no' put cortisol into circulation - which not only gives inner strength ('yuan chi' in Chinese medicine) but also re-tunes each cell type of the body in the nucleus at the control panel where each cell has 50 antennas to adjust. In Kundalini process each chakra 'lotus petal' is it's own instrument and is associated with an organ, a phoneme sound it resonates to, and an effect it has inside and out. From the anterior tip of the tailbone ... to the back of the heart ... to the third eye ... and right out the top of the head... And don't forget moola-bandha, jalandhara-bandha and uddiyana-bandha! May the 'force' be with you ... because the more you open inside (once the central channel opens) the more everyone around you connects with the uplift and freedom from being bound that we all feel...
I like this because it seems like there are so many implicit forces pushing against any physical expression when playing, so people end up being as static and rigid as possible out of inhibition or self consciousness...this gives one permission to explore physicality and movement while playing. It is enjoyable to be able to move,sway and almost dance while playing so to feel the music and find more subtle tones with the instrument.
I've sucked at the clarinet all this time.. until I saw this video! This video turned me into a wonderful clarinetist! My tone quality sounds amazing! Will definitely give you credit when I become famous. :)
I knew it!!!! Another good tip.... We can execute the most difficult cumbersome passages in the worst possible keys by simply developing a proper flexible elastic embouchure. F# major.... simply play in F and bite down hard. Why play in Ab major when the dexrarity and ease of G can be transposed to Ab with the use of advanced "Klingon" embouchure. Strong like bull, smart like streetcar!!!!!! Cheers :)
I could be wrong, but Bassoons and Euphs were ruled off limits due to the increasing prevalence of "Shatner's Bassoon" syndrome. If allowed to use or transmit these ninja level techniques, time could stop worldwide for all bassoonists and euphonium players anywhere whenever a simultaneous occurrence took place. The stakes were far too high. Again, music must pay the price.
+ahmedyasirkamal As a multi-instrumentalist, I can confirm that many of the dark arts differ between the various instrument families. Use extreme caution when trying to cross a line into unfamiliar territory, it could have (un)expected results.
I forgot my neckstrap once, but luckily had some extra rubber bands in my backpack - this was years ago at a parade, and I was already on my third clarinet in less than two years. I'm sure it would have been fine since there were so many nearby trees, but you just can't be too careful. Thank you for reminding me!
Wow, Dude. Absolutely brilliant. I can't believe you gave away all our secrets! One thing though...you forgot about one of the most important of the Dark Arts of Clarinet - the Butt-Cheek Staccato! When playing individual staccato notes, you tighten up your fanny muscles so your whole body makes the staccato!
WOW, before I started using these no one took me seriously, but when i started flying up to the ceilng all the 2nds and 1sts, were like, oh man we got competition, THANK, SO MUCH
Bassoonists (wizards of both dark and light arts) and recorder players have their own methods: I present the squat: the beauty of the music just utterly defeats some of your leg muscles, putting you lower and lower And then, more advanced than this is the pelvic “scoop” squatting up and down in a forwards direction especially at the start of a new phrase. Tbh these have real usefulness, squatting up and down slightly in performance while standing engages muscles in your lower back that enable your diaphragm to expand more
I made sure that the audience both in front and on the side and to the back row heard me. I knocked the 1st clarinet off his chair and made the 1st bassoon swallow his reed. They didn't ask me again.
I am a clarinet student in China. You do great video that help me out of some struggles. Since Chinese clarinet player can't get access to TH-cam. Shall I reprint this video to Chinese TH-cam, Bilibili? Of courses, I will note with the link address of the original video.
Sometimes teachers have to exaggerate to make clear their intentions. It is for most players the only way to teach them. You do this in an excellent way. If a student is following your instructions the sharp edges of these exaggerations disappear automatically.What remains is a better way of playing and a better way of performing.
After decades of attending master classes at ClarinetFest, I now realize just how much technique had never been discussed. For ultimate performance does it help to install a barre for exercise, and depending on gender, dress in a tutu or tights with a cod piece and point shoes? Also your video on ligatures was very revealing. Please continue to teach.
My bass clarinet's body section is only one piece, so there's the mouthpiece, barrel, bell, and then the whole body portion. Is this weird? Just wondering.
I tried these tricks on my bassoon and knocked down my ceiling fan
i was about to
EeekFilms never laughed so hard in my life😂😂
OMG
I play bassoon and I've hit so many people with the end of it😂
I tried it with my subcontrabass saxophone and knocked the building over
I came here for legit advice and I got this.
Same
Same here: wonderful. My sound has improved very much.
This is legit advice with a good dose of irony.
The clarinet section in our community band has adopted most of these excellent techniques.
@@KG-si3il LOL - Next stop Carnegie Hall.
If your instrument is too cold, light it on fire to warm it up. *only works on wooden clarinets
StormieTheDark you monster 😂
StormieTheDark the absolute madman
oh, it works on plastic clarinets too... you just have to use a really big flame...
StormieTheDark I remember my band teacher did that in class to one of my friend's clarinets, holy crap did she freak out. The class smelled lime smoke for the rest of the class
StormieTheDark I tried it it works
Wow, this guy is master level sarcastic. I mean I had to watch for several minutes as the suspicion grew and grew until "The shoulder shrug" confirmed it. It might have taken me longer since I'm new to the instrument. I mean hey, you do get some phase and intonation effects as you move an instrument around and explore the stage, hehe.
Subparanon LMAOO I was about to do it until I was about 4 minutes in. It made no sense then I remembered
I thought for sure he would eventually stop fuckin around, nope
My bass clarinet private lesson teacher is kind of like that too. 😂
He's a musician. Eccentricities are in his DNA.
Nah he's 100% serious. It's called dark arts for a reason.
Independent auditors said that my playing improved 126 and a half percent when using all these techniques simultaneously and when I get out of this hospital I just know I'm going to be a clarinet superstar! Thank you so much. I'm going to contribute $10 to your highly educational video program.
BEST COMMENT!
The first step killed me, but the rest paid for the funeral.
There is another technic you forgot to mention - that you must wear ear plugs because all the musicality is visual and you mustn't let the sounds interfere with the performance.
I agree most people just get caught up in listening to music, its ridiculous. No one takes a moment to truly taste, touch or see the music.
I've seen performances by clarinetists and saxophonists who must have attended the same School of the Dark Arts as you did!
I think we all have.
mdickinson same
"you hear the sound just flow out of my armpits..."
This is what true musical genius sounds like.
This video discriminates against clarinetists who have no shoulders.
GuitaristInProgress ok
GuitaristInProgress I have the shoulders but that might be because I play contra
Down with shoulders!
It also discriminates against players with no fingers. How could he be so insensitive?!
Well I started doing overhead presses to fix that.
Is this why I always find that professional clarinettists move around a lot?
Emily Harrison Note tuning
They usually move round for not paying the rent.
A vestige from the old days of the minstrels.
The final thoughts though.
Kids, please BE CAREFUL while using these DARK techniques!
Combine all of this together and you can become a Master of the Universe - like Martin Fröst.
But then you watch Benny Goodman and realize you don't actually need to move (that much) to play, really play.
Well said!
Is a second video coming? You left so much out that I need instruction on...
Eyebrow raising - both together and singly.
Opening eyes wider.
Very important: closing eyes for an extended period.
Moving ears.
Head gliding forward and back.
Moving head relative to clarinet.
And even subtle head movements RELATIVE to the clarinet.
Perhaps also mention importance of hair style and skin condition and how it changes the sound.
Clothing is important too... colour and texture of the fabric. Even winkle-pickers for added projection.
gortube i want to see this as well and dont forget you need the right shoes to fit your type of clarinet
These are SPECIFICALLY effective for violin, and the later half for oboists
We need more clarinet videos like this
Eric Che yes we do
Howdy partner
Ofc
Hahahaha!!!!!! Having played for almost 30 yrs now, the recognition factor is total! Thank you for making me laugh so hard I almost cried. Kindly, Annika - Swedish clarinetist.
is this video a joke
Maddy Pico no.
Haha, my name is Annika and I play the clarinet too.
I was hoping you would talk about the aggravated head twitch done when the music is being stubborn and you have to force the phrase out with aggression.
+Nick Nguyen No, we don't talk about that. That one... it changes people. You have no idea.
+James Householder LOLOLOLOL
Nick Nguyen
The sounds I made when watching this video were not human, I could not stop laughing!!!! It's also funny to see that I do a couple of these things (finger pull, sound sweeper, just to name a few). XD Loved this!!!
The resonance of our armpits!!!! I am dying!!!!!!!
Fabulous. I've met lots of clarinetists who use these techniques :)
I never realized it at the time but I picked up these techniques in college lol
This was a joke
I clicked on this looking to sound 110% better but instead I feel 110% better. Amazing, haha.
I acually thought that maybe this was a real video untill ..... funny I have no idea how he says any of this with a straight face
Look at the end, he is at the brink of breaking up, one more would have nailed him. I don't know how long he practiced to be able to hold it together.
Richard Migneron Cracking up
love all the videos I have seen so far but this is brilliant!
This killed me! Like this was grade A hilarious. "If you wanna go to an 11... use both shoulders" 😂😂
You need a classical saxophonist to teach to right arm pump technique (gets notes out of the horn faster)
Yup try the finger pull on your bass clarinet see if it drops
Wow! I can't believe how much better I'm gonna get! Thanks Nosferatu!
The end-of-piece flight is proportional to the weight of the instrument and the number of notes played, which is why bass saxophonists need such a strong harness, or preferably to have the instrument bolted to the stage, and why we usually only play bom - bom - bom - bom notes instead of all the twiddly diddly stuff. I played Flight of the Bumblebee once using a normal sax sling, and there was a hole in the ceiling afterwards. I really liked that instrument too.
This video made my morning and it will take a few hours for the smile to fade from my face and for my cheeks stop hurting. Thanks for touching upon these topics in a hilarious manner!! I'm going to share this with all of my students.
I tried some these techniques with my partner and my kids... brought tears to their eyes. Clearly I have more work to do. Thank you for sharing.
This is hilarious! I don't yet play the clarinet but I have found that my alto sax, like the clarinet, can sometimes want to start floating away, although as its heavier, doesn't usually get too far. I can stop it if this starts to happen, by bending notes and playing lower. As the notes bend and get lower, this creates some extra weight around the bottom of the inside of the bell and brings it back down. Another benefit over a clarinet I find is that the sax makes a good guard instrument against other unwanted woodwinds. It can get a bit loud and growl at them and this usually scares them off and shows who is boss.
There are two techniques used by saxophonists... the "leg thing" and the "foot stomp". The "leg thing" is where you bring up either knee about even with the bell of alto or tenor saxophone. You can do that with the toe pointed down (the more refined technique) or bottom of foot parallel to the floor. Related to the "leg thing", the "foot stomp" is similar but you only bring the foot up about 10"-12" off the floor. When a saxophonist does either the "leg thing" or the "foot stomp" it is done with one leg only, always on the same side. Guitarists do this sometimes, too. So far, I haven't seen any clarinetists do either of these techniques, but I'm sure you could combine this with the "shoulder shrug" or the "soup stir".
Best video yet! Bet you could turn this into a coffee table book to sell...
What exactly is in your mug at the beginning? ;)
Blood
+Emily G's Music & More Judging from the content, I would say alcohol?
+Kenny Huang . yep I reckon he's pissed.
That stuff doesn't come in a mug!
Liquor I imagine...
Hey Michael! I've been watching you for years, but missed this one, and can't wait to send this to my students. BTW, something I haven't seen anyone say yet: in addition to each one of these being hilarious, you sound fantastic in each example. Bravo!
I got trolled so hard
I'm glad I watched this intently. You've saved me enough money on the ballet lessons that I thought I needed to learn these skills that I'll be able to afford that new professional bass clarinet! At one point, I even considered moving to Italy so I could find who taught Corrado Giuffredi these moves!!!!
Some people may think it's a joke, but it actually works really well when playing, especially if you're playing a really long note, or a series of very short notes. I don't know why, it's really counter intuitive, but it just works.
I noticed first with Pandit Mukesh Desai how he lifted and settled his arms when singing, sometimes drawing across as if with a bow. My fellow students were annoyed when I began copying the arm gestures . . . but the modulation of which part of the lung the air was coming from made a huge difference in being able to follow the modulations of dhrupad music scales and slides and variations. What great sharing we receive here with the clarinet! In the body flexing trunk or head pumps the right adrenal gland (it has a horizontal membrane in the middle); while rotating the neck or trunk pumps the left adrenal gland (it has a vertical membrane in the middle). The gestures of both 'yes' and 'no' put cortisol into circulation - which not only gives inner strength ('yuan chi' in Chinese medicine) but also re-tunes each cell type of the body in the nucleus at the control panel where each cell has 50 antennas to adjust. In Kundalini process each chakra 'lotus petal' is it's own instrument and is associated with an organ, a phoneme sound it resonates to, and an effect it has inside and out. From the anterior tip of the tailbone ... to the back of the heart ... to the third eye ... and right out the top of the head... And don't forget moola-bandha, jalandhara-bandha and uddiyana-bandha! May the 'force' be with you ... because the more you open inside (once the central channel opens) the more everyone around you connects with the uplift and freedom from being bound that we all feel...
I like this because it seems like there are so many implicit forces pushing against any physical expression when playing, so people end up being as static and rigid as possible out of inhibition or self consciousness...this gives one permission to explore physicality and movement while playing. It is enjoyable to be able to move,sway and almost dance while playing so to feel the music and find more subtle tones with the instrument.
My daily warm up, 1 hour standing upside down on my head doing long tones. Made a contraption on the ceiling to hold the bass clarinet.
I've sucked at the clarinet all this time.. until I saw this video! This video turned me into a wonderful clarinetist! My tone quality sounds amazing! Will definitely give you credit when I become famous. :)
I've been doing it all wrong ... ! can't thank you enough man!
What’s the name of the first piece he plays?
I know I'm 4 years late but it's Brahms' clarinet sonata
I knew it!!!! Another good tip.... We can execute the most difficult cumbersome passages in the worst possible keys by simply developing a proper flexible elastic embouchure. F# major.... simply play in F and bite down hard. Why play in Ab major when the dexrarity and ease of G can be transposed to Ab with the use of advanced "Klingon" embouchure. Strong like bull, smart like streetcar!!!!!! Cheers :)
Thank you - a bit craziness is always welcome to our instrument!
I’m sure you all have seen Martin Frost play. He does it all!!! I see him and think he IS going to lift off!! 💃🏻🎼🎵🎵
Another tip -- wear a blond wig and a red dress. Just be careful not to get the wig hair stuck in the clarinet keys as you swing the hair around.
my band director quit and formally asked me to take his place when I started using these techniques, thanks for your help!
I hate it when i start flying in the middle of a performance :(
Wow, it all make sense now.
+Pranav Batra i've been using this all along Batra :P
LMAO (I rewatched this one again), I can't even imagine the number of cuts you must've made to realize it, I'm sure you were laughing the whole time.
man literally told us to be confident and what have we really done with it.
I never realized I did the shrug when playing
I could be wrong, but Bassoons and Euphs were ruled off limits due to the increasing prevalence of "Shatner's Bassoon" syndrome. If allowed to use or transmit these ninja level techniques, time could stop worldwide for all bassoonists and euphonium players anywhere whenever a simultaneous occurrence took place.
The stakes were far too high. Again, music must pay the price.
I had utterly forgotten about Shatner's Bassoon - woooooooooo. THANK YOU for that one.
If I saw this my freshman year of college I would’ve liked life more
Can I do this for marching band with a Bari sax?
+ahmedyasirkamal As a multi-instrumentalist, I can confirm that many of the dark arts differ between the various instrument families. Use extreme caution when trying to cross a line into unfamiliar territory, it could have (un)expected results.
I personally find that combining the sound sweeper with the shrug proves to give you amazing results
I found what helps with the end-of-piece-flight; I stand absolutely still to concentrate and clench my jaw to keep my sax in place.
Just seeing this one. I'm crying-! My favorite - the resonating cavities of the armpits!! BRILLIANT!!
I forgot my neckstrap once, but luckily had some extra rubber bands in my backpack - this was years ago at a parade, and I was already on my third clarinet in less than two years. I'm sure it would have been fine since there were so many nearby trees, but you just can't be too careful. Thank you for reminding me!
BRO IM ACTUALLY FLYING!!! U GOTTA TRY THIS IT REALLY WORKS!
I've been saving this for months for literal clarinet improvement. I was wrong 😂
I love this video, expands my horizon... , I am tenor sax player, I wonder if I should implement these technique..
I love the wizard skills section
Wow, Dude. Absolutely brilliant. I can't believe you gave away all our secrets! One thing though...you forgot about one of the most important of the Dark Arts of Clarinet - the Butt-Cheek Staccato! When playing individual staccato notes, you tighten up your fanny muscles so your whole body makes the staccato!
Outstanding!
Love this video! I laughed so hard when he talked about clarinetists floating away! Great video
Finally I have a direction to my playing.
Thank you so very much!
I now feel free.
Thanks been trying to find ways to refine my clarinet sound and this method really works.
Omg this is SPOT ON!!! I've seen ALL of these techniques used (and even used some myself lol)
They really work!!! 😉
WOW, before I started using these no one took me seriously, but when i started flying up to the ceilng all the 2nds and 1sts, were like, oh man we got competition, THANK, SO MUCH
::envisions performing the Copland Concerto with strings, a harp, and a spotter::
Bassoonists (wizards of both dark and light arts) and recorder players have their own methods:
I present the squat: the beauty of the music just utterly defeats some of your leg muscles, putting you lower and lower
And then, more advanced than this is the pelvic “scoop” squatting up and down in a forwards direction especially at the start of a new phrase.
Tbh these have real usefulness, squatting up and down slightly in performance while standing engages muscles in your lower back that enable your diaphragm to expand more
how tf am i gonna "float"
This is precious. Thanks, Michael!
5 years later: Still working on the wizard skills.
Isaac Newton Exists*
Professional Clarinettists at 8:15: I'm bout end this man's whole career
This guy is amazing! Hilarious...yet so on point! I love it!
Just brilliant :-)
I made sure that the audience both in front and on the side and to the back row heard me.
I knocked the 1st clarinet off his chair and made the 1st bassoon swallow his reed. They didn't ask me again.
I am a clarinet student in China. You do great video that help me out of some struggles.
Since Chinese clarinet player can't get access to TH-cam. Shall I reprint this video to Chinese TH-cam, Bilibili? Of courses, I will note with the link address of the original video.
Sometimes teachers have to exaggerate to make clear their intentions. It is for most players the only way to teach them. You do this in an excellent way. If a student is following your instructions the sharp edges of these exaggerations disappear automatically.What remains is a better way of playing and a better way of performing.
As a trombonist surrounded by clarinetist siblings, I always knew that clarinet playing was witchcraft lmao
I couldn't tell he was joking about the techniques until the Finger Pull.
I love it. As well as good clarinet technique you have great presentational skills!
I don't know if this is a joke but I like it.
After decades of attending master classes at ClarinetFest, I now realize just how much technique had never been discussed. For ultimate performance does it help to install a barre for exercise, and depending on gender, dress in a tutu or tights with a cod piece and point shoes? Also your video on ligatures was very revealing. Please continue to teach.
In these gender-confused days, codpiece AND tutu are de rigeur.
Literally dying from how great this is! 👍😂
I can’t believe this video is 10 minutes long...
many thanks for a great laugh! and it lightens up the hard work and efforts!!!
tfw I thought I'd learn something tonight lmao still funny and worth the watch
Pissing myself laughing all the way in New Zealand!!! lol made my day, this did.
Earspasm, What pieces were you playing when you demonstrated the techniques? Could you give a link?
LMAO.😂😂
When I was younger I thought he was telling the truth
I wish I had you in Band because my spitball game needed help.
"Finger Pull".Many Orchestra musicians(clarinet) still doing this!
Was hoping for real tips but this was great on it's own ha
My bass clarinet's body section is only one piece, so there's the mouthpiece, barrel, bell, and then the whole body portion. Is this weird? Just wondering.
Everything about this video is wonderful